1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to apparatus and methods for providing health care and, in particular, relates to providing care to a patient through controlled access to medical supplies, such as medications.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the medical community, and in particular, in hospitals, to provide centrally located medication and supply dispensing stations, such as wall cabinets, manually secured patient cassette drawers, and automated dispensing machines. Such generally accessible stations serve several functions including the distribution of medicines and supplies to patients. Access to medicines and supplies contained within the stations often require appropriate authorization to be provided by a user. Appropriate authorization often takes time, including manually entering identification information, such as a name and password. One disadvantage of requiring such authorization is that access to medicines and supplies within the station is delayed proportionately to the time required to enter the authorization information. In an urgent or emergency situation where medicine, or some other medical supply, contained within the station is required immediately, such delay in accessing the medicine may make a significant difference in the health of a patient. Alternatively, if no authorization were required to access medicines and supplies within the station, it would be difficult to identify a user and track use of the medicines and supplies.